1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to devices and methods associated with the striking and driving of drift pins, stakes, rods, or the like and, more particularly, to a drift pin cap and method of using same including a hardened plastic cap having a drift pin insertion end, the end having a pin receiving cavity, and a striking end that is generally flat whereby a hammer or driving device may impact the drift pin cap without damaging the drift pin and allowing for more efficient driving of the drift pin into the joint bars thereby aligning the rail holes and track.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are hundreds of thousands of miles of railroad track across the United States and throughout the world, and new construction and maintenance of railroad tracks is an ongoing concern. Increasing demand for rail transport requires the construction of new track and due to the constant wear and tear on the track, replacement of track sections is often necessary. In either case, the connections between rail sections are made by a series of joint bars which align with the transverse holes formed adjacent the ends of the rail sections. These holes need to be aligned in order to permit the rail sections to be joined to one another, and the common method by which this is done is to drive a “drift pin” into the two holes to align them prior to insertion of the rail pin connector. A drift pin is a generally cylindrical metal bar having a flat striking end and a tapered insertion end, the insertion end being placed within the holes to be aligned and the striking end being impacted by a hammer or the like to drive the drift pin into the holes thus aligning them for insertion of a rail pin connector. In fact, it should be noted that drift pins are used in many different situations for aligning two holes in two objects for insertion of a pin, bolt or other fastener, not just in the railroad industry.
One of the major problems in the industry of driving drift pins are the injuries operators incur due to the impact of the driving device onto the drift pin and the subsequent shrapnel that is dislodged. Thousands of man-hours are lost every year due to such injuries. In the past, the operator would impact the drift pin with the driving device such as a sledge hammer and the metal of the drift pin would very often become dislodged at high velocity and impact the operator resulting in injuries and the inevitable missing of work. One way the prior art has attempted to solve this problem was through the use of metal or rubber caps that would prevent metal from being dislodged from the drift pin. However, the prior art was problematic in that the rubber caps would disintegrate upon impact and the result would be the same metal shrapnel as before. The metal caps were even more dangerous as they tended to become deformed upon impact and the metal from the cap could, itself, become shrapnel resulting in injuries to the operator. There is therefore a need for a device which will prevent the creation of shrapnel resulting from the striking of the drift pin with the driving device.
Another problem encountered with the prior art is that the striking ends of the drift pins often become splayed or deformed after extended use due to the repeated impact of the driving device onto the striking end. The resulting damage to the drift pin can eventually render the pin unusable and thus requires replacement of the drift pin. As drift pins can be expensive, there is a need for a device which will act to prevent splaying or deformation of the drift pin striking end, thus increasing the usable lifespan of the drift pin.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved drift pin cap and method of using same.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a drift pin cap and method of using same which includes a cap body having a drift pin receiving cavity formed in the lower end of the cap body and extending upwards towards the upper end within the cap body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a drift pin cap and method of using same which will prevent the destruction of the drift pin by impact by the driving device by interposing the cap between the drift pin and the driving device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a drift pin cap and method of using same which will prevent the creation of shrapnel resulting from the striking of the drift pin with the driving device.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide a drift pin cap and method of using same which is relatively simple to manufacture and is safe, durable and efficient in use.